Quebec Liberal contenders talk health

All agree province spending too much

Standing before a half-full auditorium in the Museum of Civilization, the three men vying for the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party vowed to build better policies by provoking more internal debate and listening closely to what members are saying.

But when it came to actually debating at the fourth allcandidates event on Sunday, the three former provincial cabinet ministers hoping to helm the official opposition were more inclined to agree.

The theme was health and social services with the central question: How to better help those who need it most?

Philippe Couillard, Pierre Moreau and Raymond Bachand all promised to maintain the $20 million the Outaouais receives annually to boost health and social services.

The funding was announced in 2007 by Couillard, then health minister, to improve the level of care in the region, which lags behind the rest of the province.

Each declared that wait times are too long across the province, that seniors should have a standard level of care, and that a publicly funded system is key even as the private sector has a role to play in health care in Quebec.

They all agreed that the province is spending an unsustainable 43 per cent of its budget on health care — or $31.3 billion of $72.8 billion in 2013-14.

Moreau went so far as to suggest that someone should be appointed to review how those funds are distributed. “It’s unthinkable that in a system that swallows $31 billion, there’s not room for more efficiency. I will not believe that. How did we get to this point? We didn’t ask the right questions at the right time.”

Four of the five MNAs in the Outaouais are supporting Moreau in the race. Alexandre Iracà, who represents Papineau, is supporting Couillard, the perceived front-runner.

Even though the Outaouais is a Liberal stronghold, just half of the auditorium’s 500 seats were filled.

Moderator Dominique Poirier asked the contenders to explain the significant drop in card-carrying members. Less than three years ago, the party boasted 200,000 members; today there are around 45,000, she said.

Bachand argued that people are active in the party even if they are reluctant to declare partisanship. It was one point on which Couillard and Moreau disagreed.

“The reason people left the Quebec Liberal Party is because they’re asking themselves the question: what’s the point? The reason they’re asking the question and that they left the party is because our party lost the tradition of having debates,” Moreau said. “If we want members, we need to let them know that their opinions matter.”

The final debate, centred around the economy, is set for Feb. 2. The leadership convention will take place in Montreal on March 16 and 17.